Group A is in the books and featured one expected result and one big upset (happily ESL has actually posted the videos immediately). sLivko continues to be the man just good enough to lose in Premier (dropping out of the R32 for the fourth time in a row), while NaNiwa put in a weak performance and was bounced by Bunny. Here's a look at the games and how they measured up to predictions.
An expected result, except that MC lost a game. In the first game MC went for zealot/sentry pressure without attacking, adding immortals with which he faked the all-in and instead took a third (harassing with a warp prism); the gateway/immortal army faced roach/viper without upgrades (which were meant to be sLivko's steppingstone to brood lords) and completely destroyed it. The next game was very passive, with sLivko aiming for swarm host/brood lords while MC went for a colossus/void ray/templar combo; the game struck me as MC wanting to practise against that style as he could have made a push long before the brood lords appeared, but choose not too; the game ended quickly, as MC killed sLivko's third, fourth and fifth base while giving up his third and natural before recalling and getting his army wrecked after losing the air battle against corrupters. In the final game MC went for pressure getting DTs which inexplicably sLivko did not scout (never sending his overlord into the main) so they did a ton of damage; sLivko tried to get swarm hosts as MC took a third, killing sLivko's fourth before pulling back and killing the Zerg main with a warp prism, which triggered the gg. I really think MC was being much too casual in game two (it reminded me of how Bomber lost game one to Scarlett back in August).
Another expected result. In game one NaNiwa built a gate in Bunny's base which went unscounted and killed some workers, but didn't do devastating damage; NaNiwa tried to transition into a blink attack, but Bunny did a great job defending it (using tanks to anchor him) and won the game by sending a medevac to NaNiwa's undefended main. Game two NaNiwa went for blink again, but Bunny scouted it early and the Protoss took a ton of damage from a widow mine drop as NaNiwa had no detection; but the Swede stubbornly stuck with blink play and managed to inflict a lot of damage with it, going DTs to follow up which initially caused no damage; NaNiwa held off Bunny's push and then attacked with zealot/stalker which ravaged the natural as he moved into storm; Bunny went for a big drop which didn't accomplish much and as NaNiwa moved to attack Bunny went for full base trade that he could have won, but he floated his buildings too late and had no detection for the DTs so he tapped out. In the final game NaNiwa went for a proxy Dark Shrine and Bunny took huge damage from DTs as NaNiwa transitioned into colossus; Bunny went for a big drop, which didn't do the damage needed and he couldn't hold off NaNiwa's 2/2 push. Despite winning the series, NaNiwa played impatiently and stubbornly and could easily have lost the first two games. I have to credit Bunny's blink defence based on excellent tank placement (granted, it benefits from NaNiwa's insistence on blinking on top of his army).
Also an expected result, this was sadly the least entertaining series of the day. In the first game NaNiwa went for DTs while MC went for detection before immortals and held the attack off easily, which put NaNiwa far behind and he simply couldn't recover. In game two NaNiwa went for a proxy oracle which didn't accomplish much; the Swede's follow-up stalker/void ray push evened up the game, but MC had blink and NaNiwa didn't and that won the game for the Boss Toss. The win gave MC top place in the group.
A re-match from last year's WCS season one, the result was the same even if the games played out differently (those replays are not on Youtube as far as I know, but they can be found here and I highly recommend the game on Neo Planet S). Game one Bunny went for a quick two racks into a bunker rush that sLivko managed to hold off without suffering too much damage and then Bunny got indecisive in his strategy, originally aiming for blue flame hellions, but changing gears to bio after seeing sLivko's roaches; the Dane left his depot down as sLivko sent his army into the natural while making a muta switch; despite the damage done, Bunny took a great fight with his main army (actually making tanks work against Zerg) and sLivko had no army, lost his third, and Bunny camped outside his natural and won out the game. In game two both players were very passive until sLikvo walked his army into Bunny's, which was set up in a fantastic position and sLivko got annihilated and Bunny rolled to the easy win. This is the result I expected and was a fun series to watch.
This was the shocker of the group as Bunny pulled the upset. In game one NaNiwa went for a proxy oracle, which Bunny warded off with marines in a bunker; NaNiwa transitioned to blink, expanded, and went for DTs, but the latter accomplished nothing and Bunny steamrolled him with his huge army. In game two NaNiwa continued to be aggressive going for a quick gateway/mothership core rush which Bunny wasn't quite ready for it and ultimately could not hold off. In the final game NaNiwa went for proxy blink despite Bunny's proficiency to hold against it; during the fight the Terran had three siege tanks and took out the mothership core, but inexplicably NaNiwa suicided his units into Bunny's army and had to gg. It's difficult to understand why NaNiwa was so sloppy--Bunny is a good player, but all he had to do was scout and defend to defeat the Swede--the only macro game the two played (out of the six) NaNiwa won pretty easily, but he just wouldn't go back to that. I'm not sure if he was on tilt or just didn't respect Bunny enough (it reminds me of his loss to Tefel back in WCS season one last year).
Overall the games were good and the various matches competitive.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
No comments:
Post a Comment